It was 50 years ago today that Sergeant Pepper brought the band to play. Wow, I remember 50 years ago as though it was yesterday. For those of us who were alive then we all know where we were Sunday night February 09, 1964. We were in front of our black and white televisions watching Ed Sullivan introduce the Beatles to America.

My entire life changed at that moment when I was twelve years old and the Beatles opened up the whole world for me. Their music turned me on so much that it was just like I had gone into another dimension. I understood the music and found it waking me up as though my previous twelve years I had been asleep. For me the world became filled with colors whereas prior it had been only in black and white.

For those of you who were not alive when the Beatles exploded across America you won’t easily understand the significance of their impact upon not only on America, but the entire world. They changed the way we dressed, looked, acted, spoke… and even our culture. The Beatles arrived in America just under three months after the assassination of President John Kennedy. This assassination had pulled America into a massive depression and the freshness and lively spirit of the Beatles was exactly what the country needed to revitalize itself.

The power of their music was definitely inspired and I believe that the Divine Spirit was working with them, to deliver the message of love to the world. A world which was in such chaos in the 1960’s and still is today.

The first time I saw their photograph John Lennon struck me as someone unique. My girlfriends all were in love with Paul McCartney. I was not in love with John, but when I heard him in interviews I loved his wit and I bought his first book, “In His Own Write” and found his humor to be the same as mine.

I was fortunate to live in Los Angeles and saw the Beatles in person three different times. It was a lasting memory. I followed the Beatles faithfully until their breakup and from there I continued to follow John and George’s music. But as always John seemed to be expressing the feelings that I had.

What inspires so many people about a lot of the music of the Beatles is, I think, that it makes them feel happy. It’s fantastic music and it evokes good feelings. She Loves You! Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band! Hey Jude! Such enjoyable songs that inspire people around the world to join in and sing along with John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

I am glad that I was alive to experience Beatlemania full on as a teenager. Not only does their music bring me pleasure, but it reminds me of a time when my life was easier and more simple. I was safe and protected by my parents. My parents were quite special as they took me to the Hollywood Bowl to watch the Beatles the first time in 1964 and they waited patiently outside for me and they did the same the next two years that the Beatles came to Los Angeles.

So I send out all my loving to John, George, Ringo, and Paul for all that you contributed to my life and to the world. We love you yea, yea,yea,yea!

Billie, you expressed perfectly how the Beatles affected me. I was 13, in jr. high, and lived far away from any Beatles venue. Not that I would have been able to go. We didn’t have money for things like that. I couldn’t afford their albums but one of my best friends , who always got the latest things, had them. We would play them endlessly. What wonderful memories. Thank you for bringing them back to me. Blessed be. lisa